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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27656429">Pegasus Sex-Ed for Beginners</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JauntyHako/pseuds/JauntyHako'>JauntyHako</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Post Season 5 AU [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate Atlantis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A suspicious lack of gay panic, Alien Biology, Cockblocked by an Impending Sex Talk, John Sheppard is concerned about the state of Todd's dick, M/M, Xenophilia Freakout</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:21:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,920</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27656429</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JauntyHako/pseuds/JauntyHako</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What's supposed to be some lazy morning sex ends in an odyssey to find out how, exactly, wraith babies are made.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John Sheppard/Todd the Wraith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Post Season 5 AU [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/501760</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pegasus Sex-Ed for Beginners</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When John woke that morning, the only thing on his mind was the upcoming end of year assessments and the thought that if Todd didn't stop snuggling deeper into his embrace, he'd have to accuse him of ulterior motives. <br/>He cracked one eye open to look down at the mess of white hair and green skin that was his - boyfriend? partner? friend with benefits? - that was Todd. He was purring up a storm, half asleep and seemingly unaware of the moves he was making. But his leg was most definitely between John's and that rubbing was not coincidental, as much as he pretended it was.<br/>At this point John expected to have a mild bisexual panic. He'd waited for the inevitable shitstorm when his brain caught up to the fact that he was currently - in a relationship? in an arrangement? having an affair? - in cahoots with Todd. <br/>This was a man. In his bed. Who was lying on top of him, rubbing his leg against John's crotch. Whom John wanted to have sex with. With a man. In his bed.<br/>He poked his brain with the queer stick for a good minute or so, but nothing. He was okay with this. <br/>Because whatever he was and whatever they were, Todd was first and foremost Todd. Too smart for his own good, not half as funny as he thought he was but twice as funny as most people gave him credit for. A little bit broken and badly patched up. <br/>He had started sleeping over because he couldn't stand being alone, and then that one time had transformed into a habit. On missions he kept half a step behind him, the shadow in John's path, so much so that on the rare occasions when business called him elsewhere, John was asked about his absence.<br/>And sometimes he looked at him as if he was vividly picturing them in the most compromising positions. Usually those looks happened in the middle of mission briefings, and he was almost sure Todd let him see those only to mess with him. <br/>Todd liked kissing him, and they'd made out a couple of times, usually after feeding, but he never went further than that. As if Todd, too, was concerned for John's bisexual panic. <br/>Which meant it fell to John to make the first move and, considering that his next shift only started in  - he checked the alarm clock on his night stand - seven hours, and Todd seemed to be very much in the mood, he figured there was no time like the present. <br/>He let his hands wander, brushed them over Todd's naked shoulders, relishing in the smooth cool skin under his fingers. He'd never get used to how different Todd felt, from the texture of his hair to the almost rubber-like sensation of his skin. <br/>He never wanted to. His fingers found Todd's spine, hands brushing through his hair, tugging at it just a little as he lightly scratched over the bony ridges. <br/>His purring sputtered to a halt, and he shivered, a full body thing that John sought to recreate. He traced the outline of each vertebra as far down as he could reach, ending just at his waistband, then turning around and moving up again. Todd arched into his touch, humming pleased and a little rough, the purring returning full force but sharper, more feral. <br/>He came up to John and they met in a kiss. Not the scorching desperate things they'd shared before, but neither was this just a lazy good morning kiss. Todd <i>wanted</i>, John could feel his need as he pushed harder against him, long limbs curling around him, holding onto him as John's hand drew a line down his stomach and underneath his waistband. <br/>Todd stopped him. One second John wondered if Todd's dick looked as mostly-human as the rest of him, the next his wrist was caught in a vice grip, Todd was no longer kissing him, and his brow had drawn into a frown. <br/>"What?" John asked, looking around for an explanation. But nobody had walked in on them, no alarms blared. And although he freely admitted to not always being a hundred percent on the uptake with this emotional stuff, he was pretty damn sure Todd had been into what they were doing. <br/>"There is something you should know ..." Todd began, so uncharacteristically reticent that the last bit of horniness slunk back awkwardly, not to return anytime soon. He pushed himself to his elbows, looking up at Todd who was chewing on his lip, a light blush on his face. <br/>"Yeah?" John prompted when it didn't look like Todd was about to elaborate. <br/>He was still avoiding eye contact. Gently he cupped Todd's cheek and encouraged him to look up.<br/>"What's up, buddy?" <br/>It coaxed a smile out of Todd.<br/>"When wraith and humans ..." he started, then stopped. He gestured vaguely. "When two wraith ... We do things ... differently. When we ..."<br/>"... have sex."<br/>"Yes. No. That is, wraith don't really ..."<br/>"... have sex?"<br/>"No. Yes. I do want to ..."<br/>"Have sex."<br/>"Sheppard, this is not helping."<br/>"Sorry."<br/>Todd growled in exasperation and got up for good, taking the blanket with him. John shivered as the cool air ghosted over his naked body, but Todd's appreciative once-over more than made up for it. He was just about to say something else, hopefully more in the way of explanation than what he'd done just now, when his comm pinged. <br/>Todd sighed as he dropped back down onto John, his forehead lightly knocking against his chest, as he fished it from the night stand. <br/>"I have to respond," he said apologetically. <br/>John shrugged, let Todd do his thing. He stuck the comm just over his ear, and they both fell silent. While Todd had a telepathic conversation with his second in command, aided by the amplifier inside the communicator, John drew idle patterns on Todd's skin, interspersing them every now and then with a kiss to his forehead. For a telepathic conversation, which according to Todd happened at almost the speed of light, this was taking a while. Which meant either an argument had broken out, or something so supremely weird had happened on Todd's ship that his people were struggling to convey the proper mental images for it.<br/>Todd had explained to him how that worked, once. Or twice. John didn't pretend to understand, and either way Todd was much more inclined to use verbal communication than his kin. He'd heard Jeannie complain how difficult it was to get more than one syllable at a time out of her wraith companion, and considered himself lucky. <br/>Eventually Todd shut off the comm and looked up at John, apologetic puppy eyes on full blast. John groaned and hid his grin behind his hand.<br/>"Fine. Go deal with your emergency. But before that-"<br/>Just as Todd was about to get up, John pulled him back down in one last kiss. He made it a good one, too, pulling in Todd's lower lip between his teeth, applying just enough pressure to make Todd's arms buckle. They fell down, John turned them around so he was on top, licking into his mouth and swallowing Todd's groans. He rocked his hips once, Todd pushed back against him. <br/>John let up, just as Todd chased after him for another kiss and said: "You'd better hurry. Your ship is waiting for you."<br/>Todd actually cursed out loud, a colourful invective that he must have picked up on Atlantis. At least he didn't think that kind of thing normally applied to wraith. <br/>"You will pay for this, John Sheppard," he promised and John shivered pleasantly with the promise.</p>
<p>Once Todd had gone and John had had a shower (one cold, then one hot and long because he figured what the hell), he decided to use his free time to uncover this latest mystery. Todd had reacted strangely before, when he'd stopped them from going further. John was prepared to accept that Todd had just not been in the mood - every other signal he'd gotten notwithstanding - but his gut, and the beginnings of something that had sounded like the wraith version of the flowers and bees talk, told him there was more to it. <br/>His first stop, naturally, was Dr Beckett.<br/>He would have been more comfortable with Dr Keller, but she was spending time at the Eschalian outpost, helping them through the side-effects of their illness and treatment as more and more flocked to them each day. If he asked Woolsey for permission to gate travel to the Eschalian outposts, he'd have to explain why and that was not happening in a million years. So Carson it was.<br/>"What can I do for you, lad?"<br/>John explained the situation. Or rather he invented a purely academic curiosity about the wraith as a biological concept that had no basis in anything he may or may not be getting up to in his bedroom with any specific wraith in particular.<br/>Carson, bless his soul, pretended to buy it.<br/>"Alright, then. Hypothetically speaking," he said with just a hint of an eye roll. "We know barely anything about the wraith reproductive cycle."<br/>"What, nothing?"<br/>"Barely anything," Beckett repeated. "Until recently we thought wraith queens created offspring asexually, randomising certain DNA sequences by some unknown biological mechanism. Now we're fairly certain that wraith commanders do play a role in the process."<br/>He put John in front of a computer and called up several files. There were pictures. Pictures John had never wanted to see, searing themselves into the dark recesses of his brain. He groaned and covered his eyes, punched in the vague direction of Beckett's laughter, hit nothing and felt the worse for it. <br/>"Warn a guy next time," John said.<br/>"Oh don't be so shy. Wraith anatomy is a fascinating subject. As I'm sure you can agree."<br/>John kept himself from sticking his tongue out at Beckett and mustered an air of professionalism. <br/>"So the wraith commanders have ... they do things? But not the drones?"<br/>"No, which is interesting, since they and not the commanders are purely cytogenetically male."<br/>In high school he'd thought he'd never have a use for the stuff he learned in biology. Who would have thought he did now, when he was trying to find scientific answers to the question of why he couldn't get lucky with his - boyfriend? partner? lover? - with Todd.<br/>"Todd doesn't have guy-chromosomes?"<br/>He did, although not exclusively. John listened in somewhat of a daze as Beckett explained the amount of genders wraith had, one more than expected, and how they featured in their reproductive cycle, with nothing that might explain Todd's reaction before. Apparently drones didn't have the parts to do certain things, which was more than he needed to know about drones but also strangely relieving since it meant he wasn't about to learn <i>much</i> more than he needed to know about drones. Todd and other commanders had, according to Beckett, the correct ... apparatus, but even that came with an asterisk attached.<br/>He made John look at the pictures, which featured some wraith bodies they'd discovered and brought back to Atlantis over the years to study them, back then in pursuit of the retrovirus. A pattern emerged.<br/>"Why do some of them not have ..." John gestured vaguely.<br/>"Willies?" Beckett finished helpfully with just a little bit of a shit-eating grin. <br/>"I mean, it looks like there should be ..."<br/>"Willies."<br/>"Do you think they ... ugh, cut off their ...?"<br/>"Willies?"<br/>John was beginning to realise how supremely not helpful that was.<br/>"Do you think Todd has a ... <i>don't</i>."<br/>"W- ..." Beckett shook his head. "I couldn't begin to speculate, Colonel."</p>
<p>If anything, that little excursion had thrown up more questions than it answered. He was pretty sure he'd felt Todd's dick before, and ergo he was confident to proclaim that it did, in fact, exist and was where it was supposed to be. But he couldn't be sure until he saw for himself, which brought up the revelation that he'd seen about half a dozen more wraith dicks and suspicious lack of wraith dicks than he ever wanted to, and none of them belonged to the wraith whose dick he was actually interested in.<br/>John stopped in the hall to listen into himself. No, still no queer panic. <br/>Had his subconscious known all along that Todd had, at least physiologically, a girly side to him? Or was this just some bullshit he told himself to make up for the fact that he was suspiciously not bothered by being into someone who, at least by human standards, met just about every standard of ideal masculinity?</p>
<p>Unfortunately Todd was still caught up in that emergency of his, and when he knocked at Jeannie's door asking to speak to her wraith friend, the news of his visit to Beckett had already made the rounds.<br/>"Absolutely not," Jeannie said. John opened his mouth in protest but she raised her finger and he fell silent. "Alice is barely an adult himself, I'd be surprised if someone gave him the talk. I'm not letting you upset him."<br/>"I'm not going to ask any upsetting questions, Jeannie, please."<br/>Granted, he was fully about to ask about his buddies' possibly traumatic lack of penises, but Jeannie didn't have to know. <br/>"No. John, he's just twelve. Find someone else."<br/>That brought him up short. <br/>"Twelve <i>years</i>?" he asked. <br/>Jeannie lowered her head and said in a conspiratorial tone: "I know, right? He looks like he's in his twenties. It freaks me out a little."<br/>"Yeah, no shit." <br/>It was at that point that Alice got wind of the discussion that was happening about him. He appeared like a shadow, quieter than even Todd could be. <br/>"John wants to ask you some questions," Jeannie said, in her most maternal voice, looking up at the green-skinned apex predator who in human years was not even old enough to grow a beard. Alice had one, though, and it twitched slightly as he nodded at John to ask his question.<br/>John went right ahead, ripping the band-aid off quickly as it were.<br/>"I noticed some of you don't have ..." The band-aid stuck. He gestured at the vague region of Alice's nether regions. Alice stared at him. John stared back, fighting down a blush.<br/>In the wraith body language version of a resounding 'nope', Alice turned on his heels and went back inside.<br/>Jeannie crossed her arms reproachfully, indicating with as many words as her wraith friend, that he'd just forfeit his babysitting privileges for the foreseeable future.<br/>That left only one avenue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I ... need to go to the planet, because ..."<br/>Yeah, he had nothing. <br/>All the way to the gateroom John had tried to come up with a reason to go off-world in his free time, and the best excuse he'd managed was to enjoy the stunning natural scenery. Of which his destination didn't have much. Not surprisingly, Woolsey hadn't bought that one.<br/>"Colonel Sheppard, I see no reason to deny your request, but there are protocols in place. We can't just dial up the gate whenever we like."<br/>Why not, John wanted to ask, it was their gate, wasn't it?<br/>"See, the reason is ... uh, personal?"<br/>Woolsey shook his head.<br/>"Not enough."<br/>He was just about to elaborate, ideally by giving John some ideas for good excuses, when Chuck told him that Todd's ship had sent down a message. <br/>"It's for, uh, Colonel Sheppard," Chuck said. He looked between them.<br/>"Well?" Woolsey prompted.<br/>"Uh, right. It says: For God's sake, John Sheppard, you have the patience of an exploding star. Wait until I get back. Todd out."<br/>"For God's sake?" Woolsey echoed.<br/>Chuck shrugged.<br/>"A loose translation."<br/>John had other concerns.<br/>"Alice," he said. "That little snitch."</p>
<p>He didn't have time to take Alice to task about a conversation that was supposed to be private and had also, technically, not happened. John had a shift, and it kept him busy enough for the next few hours that he didn't think too much about what he might have found in Todd's pants, if he hadn't interrupted him. Was Todd ... injured? For all he knew what he felt that morning might have been the wraith equivalent of a pair of socks stuffed into his pants, and Todd feared him finding out. For that matter, John had no idea how he would react if it turned out Todd was ... injured. He supposed they could make do. There had been a time in his marriage with Nancy when he'd had certain difficulties, and this wouldn't be all that different. Right. He could make this work. He'd simply tell Todd that whatever had been done to him wouldn't come between them. And if Todd wanted to talk about the traumatic experience of losing his dick, John would damn well bite the bullet and be emotionally available for once.</p>
<p>The truth, naturally, was far stranger.<br/>Still preoccupied with his elusive emergency, Todd had not returned when John's shift was done. He had, however, sent down a dart to pick him up. Since John did have the patience of a dying star in the middle of collapsing its core, he didn't even complain about having to use the transport beam.<br/>When he arrived on the ship, he was immediately greeted by several wraith hurrying past him, sans coats, carrying buckets. The buckets in question were filled with a thick pale yellow liquid that smelled like someone had inhaled nothing but swamp gas and eaten nothing but onions for a week. John suppressed a gag, keeping his mouth carefully closed. The wraith who accompanied him shot him a glance that said 'Wait till you've dealt with this all day'.<br/>Deciding that he'd rather not know, John let himself be led to an area of the ship he hadn't been to before. The hum of the ship was softer here, less of a great beast huffing and puffing out of lungs the length of houses, and more of a distant wind, furious yes, but behind layers of thick walls and warmth. John had already opened his jacket. Now he tugged at the collar of his tshirt, wondering if he could duck out and take it off.<br/>By the time he entered Todd's quarters he was drenched in sweat. The wraith who'd accompanied him gave an almost imperceptible bow and went off without another word, probably to deal with that problem in the buckets again. <br/>John had a look around.</p>
<p>A large net had been spanned at the far wall, grown like the rest of the ship from strands of rubber like tendrils knotted together in organised chaos. They were warm to the touch and had a decent give to them. They'd probably make for a good hammock. Below the net into the floor lights had been laid. They weren't on, but John would bet they were infrared lamps. Todd was always complaining about John's room being too cold. To his left a desk and chair had been set up, both of them obvious later additions. John could still spot the drag marks the desk had dug into the floor. Would these have belonged in a queen's room? Or had Todd brought them from somewhere else as he took duties only the women of his people normally performed?<br/>Although, according to Beckett, Todd was at least part woman. Or something like it. Truth be told, John had no idea how gender worked with wraith. He'd ask Todd about it some day. Just as soon as he figured out how to phrase that question.<br/>And maybe after they got over the missing penis issue.<br/>Jesus, this was a lot more than he'd bargained for. John peered at the hammock-bed, then settled for the chair that felt just as alien, just as strange as the rest of this ship. Was it like this for Todd, everyday? Walking through halls that were alien and menacing to him, sleeping in a bed that was not just the wrong shape but the wrong temperature? Watching John eat food, turn up the lights and down the heating. He even wore human clothing sometimes. Should John have offered to spend more time on his ship? It didn't seem fair to ask Todd to deal with all the culture shock. <br/>But he'd never offered, because wraith ships creeped him the hell out, and he hadn't wanted to deal with so many other wraith, most of whom probably secretly wanted him dead. Just like most people from the expedition hadn't liked Todd when he'd first started living on Atlantis, then with the feeding still a problem, never knowing where his next meal would come from. <br/>This whole thing was a stupid idea. What had he been thinking? Dating an alien like it was that easy? He should have offered to stay over on the ship more, to give Todd time to be at home for once, and let John be the one to worry about the food, and the strange beds, and where the next change of clothing would come from. But he hadn't, had felt all too comfortable sitting there on Atlantis, asking Todd to make all the compromises. Right up until they were all out of compromise.<br/>John groaned, got up. Paced up and down. The fall of his feet echoed wrong on the organic floor, something he didn't notice until it had already given him a headache. The air was too warm and moist, the lights too low, the smells too sweet and heavy. Because this was Todd's room and Todd was an alien, even if he'd given him a human name and pretended he was just Ronon with green skin. <br/>Wraith didn't even speak the same way humans did, what made him think this could ever work out? Just them talking was a compromise Todd had made. To him speech was like sign language was to John, a learned and unnatural way to communicate. One that he was capable of, sure, but certainly not comfortable in. But that Todd chose to use anyway, because it wasn't like John could learn how to use telepathy. He'd been pondering what to call their relationship when he couldn't even say Todd's real name.<br/>"Dr McKay told me this might happen."<br/>John stopped his pacing to look up. Todd stood in the doorway, coat slung loosely over his shoulder. On any other day John would have taken a moment to appreciate his naked skin, getting so rarely to see it outside the bedroom. Now all he saw was green skin, and yellow eyes with pupils blown wide, seeing much better in the low light than John ever would. <br/>"What?" he said, voice barely more than a breath but Todd heard him, because he also had better hearing than a human, or maybe he'd read his thoughts, or maybe it was the ten-thousand years of life experience that told him what John had said.<br/>"He said at some point you might experience something like this," Todd said, entering the room fully. The doors shut with a wet gulp. He threw his coat over the chair where John had sat, then closed the distance between them. <br/>On Atlantis Todd was always a little cool to the touch. Here he felt like John thought he was supposed to, a little warmer, and a lot more relaxed. Todd rubbed his arms in slow, soothing motions. <br/>"Like this?" John asked but he knew what Todd meant. He wasn't even totally wrong.<br/>"A 'gay panic' I believe it is called?"<br/>It was, and it wasn't that. John had expected one of those, and had in waiting for it been completely blindsided by the alien panic that hit him broadside and left him reeling.<br/>"You're not human," John said helplessly. <br/>Todd drew back, hurt. He tried not to let it show, but his feeding hand had curled protectively around itself, halfway drawn up to his chest in a protective gesture. <br/>"I see," he said, but he didn't. <br/>John shook his head. When Todd made to bring more distance between them, he bridged it in two large steps. <br/>"I don't know how to make this work," he admitted in a rush. <br/>It was the first time he did. With Nancy he hadn't known either, but he'd pretended running away was the better solution. Todd was too important for that. Too smart, as well.<br/>Todd made a little noise of understanding, and let himself be drawn into another embrace. He curled around him, held him close and John in turn kept him right there, Todd's feeding hand between them, curling and uncurling until he took it in his free hand, and kissed his knuckles one by one. He stopped just short of the feeding slit, heard Todd draw in a sharp breath. <br/>"Have you ever ... with a human?" John asked softly. <br/>"Yes," Todd said, then amended: "A Lantean."<br/>"Sounds like a story."<br/>Todd chuckled, John felt his lips press against his hair. <br/>"It was."<br/>John hesitated, but he'd come this far.<br/>"Can this work?"<br/>"Yes."<br/>"Show me."<br/>"No."<br/>John frowned, leaned back to look up at Todd. Despite his assurance, he looked as uncertain as John felt. <br/>"Not tonight," Todd said. "Wraith are different from humans. I don't want you to ... Not tonight."<br/>John nodded. He could wait a while longer. <br/>Todd gently pushed John deeper into the room, then into his hammock bed. He'd been right, the lights in the floor were infrared lamps, warming the space in a matter of seconds. He pulled off most of his clothes, watched Todd do the same. Bony spine, green skin, sharp teeth, an amalgam of what should have been a nightmare, not the thing he wanted to go to bed with. But it wasn't an alien who curled around him, it was Todd, as strange and different as he was. <br/>Todd, who kissed his brow, then his cheek, then his lips. <br/>Todd, who put off the inevitable, because he'd feared that if John was confronted with even more of their differences today, he'd run for the hills.<br/>Just before he drifted off, John remembered to ask another important question.<br/>"What's with the buckets?"<br/>The hammock shook lightly as Todd chuckled.<br/>"A minor but persistent complication. We are in the process of growing additional space. Sometimes pockets of sebaceous liquid open unexpectedly, leading to flooding."<br/>John blinked. He was too tired for this.<br/>"Your ship had a pimple?" he asked but had fallen asleep before he could hear Todd's answer.</p>
<p>John thought he'd never be able to comfortably sleep in a tendril hammock on top of several heat lamps, in the general conditions of a sauna built in the middle of a rainforest.<br/>So when he woke that next morning, groggy and disoriented, he blamed his restful sleep on Todd. Some freaky space magic, probably. <br/>Now that an entire night lay between him and his little episode, he didn't quite get what had him so upset. Todd was an alien, so what? At the same time he knew this wouldn't be the last time he'd have that particular freakout. <br/>"Todd?" he asked and heard him made the sound of a man who'd been sleeping peacefully but was prepared to put up with a lot for his - boyfriend? - boyfriend, John decided. <br/>"Do you have a dick?"<br/>A rich concentration of questions filled the ensuing silence. From this angle John couldn't see if Todd's eyes were open, but he wasn't breathing slow enough to have fallen back asleep. In fact, it seemed he was trying to move as little as possible. <br/>"Yes?" he eventually said. <br/>"Only, some wraith don't."<br/>Another bout of silence. <br/>"I hesitate to ask ..."<br/>"Beckett."<br/>Finally Todd turned around. It was a bit of an act, Todd shuffling around, pushing at John to get some space, fighting against the hammock that tried to keep him exactly where he was and John who didn't know how to accommodate him in this death trap. Eventually he ended up on his back, John at his side, white hair splayed like a halo around his head, naked chest covered in a thin sheen of sweat. <br/>"You must realise I have more questions now," he said earnestly. <br/>John grinned. Then he chuckled. Then he gasped and broke out in laughter. The entire net shook with it, John lowered his forehead against Todd's shoulder, wondered whether it was his own laughter he felt reverberating through them both or if Todd had joined in. <br/>Eventually he calmed down, heard Todd sighing pleasantly, and decided it was now or never.<br/>"I'm ready, I think."<br/>Todd, instead of speaking, pulled down the thin black leggings that counted as underwear with the wraith. <br/>John's first thought was that he should have brought condoms. His second thought was that he'd literally had Todd's hand-teeth dug into his chest, so if alien STDs were a problem, he'd have gotten them already. <br/>Both these thoughts were superseded by the third thought, which was that Todd's dick was as green and handsome as the rest of him, but not overly alien. Granted, he had no balls which made the whole sight just a little off-kilter, but he'd been mostly prepared for that part from the pictures Beckett had shown him. He did get, however, why Todd stopped them before. If he'd seen Todd's dick sans balls without prior explanation, he might have lost it just a little bit.<br/>"It looks okay," he said, well aware of how that would have gone over with any partner but Todd.<br/>Todd explained what was up with his dick that had him so concerned for John's reaction.<br/>John listened. <br/>Then he blinked. Looked up at the ceiling. At Todd's dick. At Todd's face. <br/>"Come again?"<br/>Todd repeated himself.<br/>Blink. Ceiling. Dick. Face. <br/>Then enough of the information trickled into the part of his brain that wasn't currently screaming incoherently.<br/>"What the fuck do you mean, <i>it comes off</i>?"</p>
<p>So yeah. Apparently wraith penises came off.<br/>John stared at the ceiling, Todd next to him pretending to be calm, but John felt his hair move against his shoulder everytime he turned to see if John had processed that revelation yet. He was working on it.<br/>"So when a wraith queen wants a baby ..."<br/>"Usually several dozen. Unless it's another queen."<br/>"Right. So when a wraith queen wants several dozen babies. You just ... pop off your dick and hand it to her?"<br/>"There's usually more ceremony involved," Todd said patiently. "But yes."<br/>John tried to imagine the kind of ceremony that would come with the formal handing over of one's actual penis to one's actual direct superior and also head of government. He giggled helplessly at the image of trumpets blaring as a solemn wraith carried a dick on a velvet cushion down a red carpet. Then he realised he probably shouldn't laugh at Todd's cultural customs.<br/>"Sorry," he said. <br/>Todd hummed, his way of saying "Don't mention it". <br/>They lay side by side in his hammock-nest, hands intertwined between them. It was almost nice. Scratch the almost, it was nice. Even if he was being given the sex talks to end all sex talks.<br/>"Does it grow back?"<br/>"Within thirty to fifty years, yes."<br/>John tried imagining living without his penis for several decades. He tried very hard not to imagine what said penis might look like in varying stages of regrowth.<br/>"Can you ... decide if you want it to come off?"<br/>"To a point."<br/>John turned his head, looked at Todd for elaboration.<br/>"Orgasm induces the process. But there is ... medication I have been taking for a while, to reduce the risk."<br/>That bit made the breath stick in John's throat. He reached out almost on autopilot, pushed a strand of Todd's hair out of his face. He was beautiful. Not just alien, or sinister. Not even just familiar. But beautiful enough that John thought even if he lived ten thousand years he'd never get enough of him.<br/>Todd took drugs to prepare for the possibility of sleeping with John. Because he wanted to. Dear God, John wanted it, too.<br/>"How's this going to work?" he asked and Todd's face lit up. In one fluid motion he swung his leg over John's waist, hovered just inches over him in all his full nude glory. <br/>"Relax," he purred, teeth bared in a predatory and yet still playful grin.<br/>John swallowed, reached out to trace the line of his tattoos, the ones on his chest he was familiar with down to the ones along his legs, fine black lines of indeterminate significance and aesthetic value. Maybe Todd could read his thoughts because he'd barely finished thinking that he'd like to kiss him, that Todd leaned down, a white curtain of hair separating them from the rest of the world as their lips met in a kiss. <br/>Todd kissed him deep and hungry, whole body arching into the motion, hands searching for John's clothes and pulling insistently once he found them. John made a noise, swallowed by the kiss, trying to tell Todd to be patient, he'd handle this -<br/>The sound of ripping fabric broke them apart. John looked down, at the remains of his tshirt entangled with Todd's fingernails, then up at Todd who didn't even have the decency to look sheepish.<br/>"Really?" John said. "That's just juvenile."<br/>Todd's grin widened as he tore it the rest of the way open, discarding the tatters irreverently before descending on his chest. <br/>John yelped as the first hint of sharp teeth closed around his nipple, little needle pinpricks soothed by hot breaths and Todd's wicked tongue, flicking teasingly back and forth, growing more bold with every gasp he coaxed out of him. <br/>John curled his hands into Todd's hair, pulled at it just slightly knowing the reaction he'd get. True enough Todd drew in a sharp breath, knees locking tight against John's thighs. His whole body trembled when John lightly scratched along his scalp, and the next time he bit John, just beneath the collarbone, his teeth left fine pink marks, a warning of broken skin. <br/>John turned them around. Or tried to at least. He'd never had sex in a hammock before, and this net was barely that besides, having at once more and less give in places he couldn't anticipate. What was supposed to be a smooth motion ended with Todd still half on top of him, John's elbow stuck in one of the holes along with his right heel, him cursing profusely and Todd laughing like he was a thousand years younger. Despite knowing how ridiculous that manoeuvrer had made him look, John fell in with Todd's contagious laughter and barely noticed when Todd grasped him by the waist and turned them around much more gracefully.<br/>"That's more like it," John said, ridding himself of his trousers and pants, and throwing them in the general direction of his shoes. He could get away with not wearing a tshirt if he closed his jacket, but if Todd shredded his trousers, he'd be in trouble. <br/>He rocked experimentally against Todd, then again when it drew the most delicious noises out of him. He pushed up against John, pulled him down and peppered his neck with tiny sharp kisses, grazing his teeth along his skin, growling when John kept moving against him, feeling them both grow hard.<br/>They quickly found a rhythm, rutting against each other slowly and deliberately. Todd was a continuous source of noise, purring and growling, the rumbling reverberating in John's chest. Their sweat slick skin provided too little friction, so John reached down to grab both their cocks. Todd hissed at the first contact of hot skin.<br/>"Careful," he said, reminding John acutely of what might happen.<br/>"Right, uh," he said, loosening his grip somewhat.<br/>Todd shook his head, put his own hand over John's.<br/>"No. I'd just like this to ... last a while," he said, lips brushing against John's cheek. <br/>He grinned, slowly stroking them in time with their movements, drawing choked off little gasps from Todd.<br/>"Been some time, huh?"<br/>Todd laughed, pulled John into another kiss.<br/>"Longer than you can imagine."<br/>Apart from the occasional drawn out shower, it had been some time for John as well. Part of him wanted to get the edge of. The bigger part relished getting Todd underneath him, with all the time in the world. Who knew when the next emergency would come up? He intended to enjoy this while he had the time. <br/>Keeping their eyes locked, John crawled backwards, watching for the moment Todd understood. His lips touched the inside of his thigh before he got it, eyes widening, breath coming hard as John left his own trail of bitemarks, careful not to touch Todd's cock directly. At least not yet. <br/>"John ..."<br/>His name fell like a prayer, Todd shuddering under every teasing kiss, every little innocent touch, as he trailed the tips of his fingers down his skin to the back of his knees and up again. Todd twitched, tried to stay still, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as he looked down at John finally taking his cock in hand and touching his lips to the crown. It was more gesture than act, his lips wet and warm enough to let him feel it, but barely more than that. Todd reacted as if John had deepthroated him. His back arched up, eyes fluttered shut, his hands scrambled to grab hold of something and found John's outstretched hand and the short mess of his hair. He pulled, John groaned, and took Todd's cock in his mouth fully, swallowing him down as far as he could manage.<br/>Todd's shocked cry was worth almost choking. He stared down at John, unable to believe what he was doing, reverently carding his fingers through his hair, looking so unbearably fond it threw him off. But the heady taste of Todd on his tongue prevented him from losing himself in his eyes. Taking his time, he licked up Todd's cock just to get a better taste of him, finding it not altogether unpleasant. He rubbed his thumb over the base and found a thin ridge, feeling like a scar but not being that. Or not exactly. John followed it, found it went all the way around Todd's cock. He figured it being there was no surprise. Todd was old after all, there were probably few things he hadn't done. Still.<br/>"Have you ever done this with a queen?" John asked, squeezing his cock just a little. Todd moaned, swallowed once, twice before he could answer.<br/>"Not 'with'," he said, voice barely more than a husky breath. "For. And yes, I have. Now please, no more questions."<br/>John grinned, went back to lavish his attention on Todd's cock, sucking on the head, bobbing his head in a steady rhythm designed to drive him mad.<br/>Todd kept twitching with every little thing he did, holding on but barely able to do more than that, knees knocking against John's sides in their effort to remain in place, every whispered 'John, more, yes' accompanied by his whole body jerking into the touch. <br/>"I will not ..."<br/>Todd broke off, growled and with one decisive motion pulled himself up and John into his lap, pulling him in by the back of his neck into a bruising kiss. He rutted against him, pulled them closer until they were chest to chest, their cocks trapped between them, John taking up the rhythm, riding Todd and kissing him. Todd licked into his mouth, took greedily everything he was willing to give, hands clutching his side the back of his neck, fingernails digging harshly into the skin in what would have been painful if John hadn't been so far gone.<br/>He came with a shout, Todd's name made unintelligible by the force of his orgasm. He pulled himself against Todd, kept moving as he came, barely conscious enough to catch his cum in his hand, every sense focused on Todd who followed him over the cliff, head buried in the crook of John's shoulder, arms slung around him as he rode out his own orgasm, cursing and pleading and gasping for air.</p>
<p>The world returned to John in the background noise of an alien ship, his alien lover catching his breath and cursing the years they'd known each other and not done this at every conceivable moment. Even in the humid heat of the ship, John broke out in goosebumps as the air ghosted over his sweat-covered skin. Todd noticed and pulled John down with him, curling around him in a warming embrace. John found a piece of his tshirt and wiped his hands, noticing only then that Todd had not left a similar mess. <br/>"You don't cum?" he asked, curiosity about his alien boyfriend back in force.<br/>"Not now," Todd groaned, ending that potential line of questioning by peppering little kisses across John's shoulder. <br/>John, figuring this kind of attention a decent compromise, leaned into Todd, pulling his arm over his chest and holding onto his feeding hand. Just because he could, he brushed his thumb gently over the slit. Todd shuddered behind him, letting out his breath in an unintelligible curse. <br/>"You have no idea what you're doing to me ..." he sighed.<br/>John smiled, kissed the spot just above the feeding slit, feeling Todd first tense, then relax.<br/>"You like it," he said. "That's all I need to know. For now."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was reading 'Odd Couples' by Daphne J. Fairbairn when I got the idea for Todd's detachable dick, going for some mix between yellow garden spiders (whose males leave their palps inside the female) and bone-eating worms (where the females amass large harems of sperm-producing males). Considering that I love making up weird headcanons about alien biology, this is probably not the last time I'm going to go into how wraith sex/gender/general biology works.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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